Caitlin Clark was shooting in the low 30s from three, dealing with a back issue, and had just bricked two free throws when Washington went up by one with 4.3 seconds left. Then she buried a 31-foot Caitlin Clark game winner over the Mystics to end the whole conversation.
Fox News Sports confirmed the shot: a 31-footer with 1.2 seconds on the clock, Indiana Fever 78, Washington Mystics 76. According to CBS Sports, it was Clark’s first career go-ahead basket in the final minute of a WNBA game. Her FIRST. Which means every time the Fever needed her to be the one in that moment before this, she wasn’t. I say that as a compliment, because the way she answered it was genuinely disrespectful to the concept of a slump.
Here’s how it went down: Sophie Cunningham threw a full-court crosscourt inbound pass, Cotie McMahon went for the steal, missed, and left Clark standing alone 31 feet from the basket. Clark caught it and just… let it fly. Didn’t hesitate. Didn’t pump fake. Didn’t look at the clock. Ice cold shooter in the middle of a documented cold stretch, and she went logo three. That’s not a slump-buster. That’s a Caitlin Clark game winner over the Mystics that doubles as an announcement that the slump is dead and you should not have brought it up.
https://x.com/RGIII/status/2064176321782018459
The Cunningham subplot is equally unhinged in the best way. She posted what appeared to be a meme suggesting they went completely rogue and ignored whatever Coach Stephanie White drew up. The internet lost its mind. Then Cunningham came back on X to clarify: “You guys read too much into things. That’s THE EXACT play our coach drew up and we executed it perfectly!” Clark’s reaction to the whole rogue story? Exactly three words. Positive, amused, completely unbothered. (The play was: throw it to the best shooter alive and let her cook. Apparently that required clarification.)
Coach White had been publicly calm about the shooting slump for weeks, saying she was “not concerned.” After the previous game (a 4-of-14, 10-point dog against the New York Liberty) that felt like coach-speak. After Sunday it feels like she was just right and the rest of us were overreacting.
The same day Clark hit this shot, TIME dropped its inaugural “100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026” list, with Clark in the “Icons” category alongside A’Ja Wilson. Senior correspondent Sean Gregory wrote that when the history of women’s basketball is written, “expect a chapter, or two or three, on Caitlin Clark.” He published that piece on June 8, 2026. The game was also June 8, 2026. The universe has a sense of timing.
This all happened during the NBA Finals chaos, which means most of the main feed completely missed it. That’s a shame, because a 31-foot buzzer-beater off a full-court inbound to end a documented slump is the kind of thing you want to be talking about at the bar.
For more WNBA coverage that isn’t getting buried, keep it here.
She missed two free throws and then hit a logo three to win. That’s the story. I’ve watched this clip eleven times and I’m not stopping.
